Fancy Mice and bouncy houses

                                                     


School was cancelled today because the windshield was 23 degrees below zero.  That’s a bit crazy if you ask me.  But I guess it’s only crazy because I have decided that it is.  The positives of this cold weather result in me bundling up and putting the seat warmer on.  Tea sounds better than ever.  Right now, I am sitting at an indoor play zone with my nephew and niece.  There are bouncy houses and slides and they are all sweaty and enjoying themselves to the max.  I expect that in a few minutes they will come to me to let me know that they are hungry.  I guess that the soda and doughnuts that they had a bit ago will not satisfy the demands placed upon them by running and jumping.  They will undoubtly need more nutrition.  I am thinking that we can pick up a movie at Redbox and go home to something a bit more healthy than what they have had thus far with their Aunt Kimmy.  It’s been 9 days since I have landed.  And it has been delightful and rich and everything in between.  And I won’t lie.  I’ve paused and I’ve wondered.  Shouldn’t the transition be more hard?  Shouldn’t It be a bit more of a struggle?  Remembering that the flusher is not on the top of the toilet seems to be the biggest challenge.  Multiple times, I have tried to turn on the turn signal with the wrong hand.  I’ve also had to remember that I can leave the water running as I wash the dishes.  Neither do I have to leave them in the sink until there’s enough to justify using water.  The feel of carpet between my toes has been a real treat and the look of frosted windows from the cover of a heated blanket is delightful.  This morning before we snacked on doughnuts and soda, we went to the pet store.  Yes, that was a bit of something.   An entire store completely dedicated to animals.  Within the four walls of that store you could find pretty much everything and anything related to animals.  Want a santa outfit for our dog?  No worries.  A large cage for your bird?  No problem! We spent a good amount of time looking at the animals.  There were lizards, fish, and a variety of birds.  And tucked into the cages were “fancy” mice and “fancy” rats.  I have to admit that I am still figuring out what makes a rat or a mouse fancy.  I studied the rat closely . It looks a lot like the rat that my friend Eric killed for me last year.  It dIdn’t seem particularly fancy to me.  I am assuming it’s a selling tactic.  I also saw a chameleon.  It could be all mine for $99 dollars. 
I smiled as I thought of my friend Beth who had a pet chameleon.  According to the pet store, taking care of a chameleon involves advanced skills.  I would agree with that assessment.  They seem fragile in Uganda and they surely look fragile in the petstore.  There was also a python tucked into a small cage.  I have to confess I felt a bit sorry for it.  But, on the positive, it was alive.  Had I come across a python back home, I would have killed it.  And oh, how I have grown in that area.  A year ago, the thought of killing an animal left me nervous and unsure.  Now, I realize that it just just a part of life.   And so, here I continue to sit.  I’ve gone on a bit of a ramble.  To be honest, there isn’t a huge purpose on all that I have just written.  Except that it’s a bit of a glimpse into my life.  A life that has one foot on one continent and another foot  in another.  It seems that wherever I am, I just shift so that the majority of my body is in the place
where I am currently.  The foot never seems to leave the place where it is planted.  Right or wrong, I do not know.   Staying connected with friends a family… a high priority.  And so today, I smile as I look at the chameleon in a small cage peering through the window at me.  He looks a lot like the chameleon back home in Uganda.  I celebrate the differences of their environment and somehow connect to the reality of a species living in two different worlds.   Two different worlds that are so different.  And yet both carry the richness of deep relationships and sweetness.   And so I keep one foot in each.  Embracing today and remembering.  Embracing today and knowing that chameleons and fancy rats are just the surface level aspects of diving into rest, rejuvenation, and processing.